TikTok restores US services as ban looms
January 20, 2025
TikTok is back in the US — for now.
The platform briefly went dark for US users and vanished from US app stores shortly before a Sunday deadline, when its parent company, ByteDance, was supposed to sell its domestic operations to an American buyer.
After President-elect Donald Trump pledged to postpone the ban after taking office on Monday, the platform restored its services but remained unavailable for download.
But the clock is still ticking for the popular video app. While the company seems to have gained some extra time, TikTok must still secure a buyer or face a US ban.
At the same time, digital rights advocates warn that singling out one platform with a ban will do little to protect users — and could ultimately backfire.
"It's like playing a dangerous game of whack-a-mole that ends up putting users at even greater risk online," said Natalie Campbell, senior director for North American government and regulatory affairs at the nonprofit Internet Society.
While concerns about TikTok's security and privacy are legitimate, an outright ban would drive some users to unsafe workarounds and leave them more vulnerable than before, she told DW.
"People who rely on TikTok for their livelihood, for their income, will try to find workarounds to continue using the platform," she said.
Blurry political battle lines
There are many dimensions to the US political landscape surrounding the ban, and it remains fluid.
In April 2024, US lawmakers passed the ban with bipartisan support. TikTok appealed, arguing that the ban violated First Amendment rights, and the case went to the Supreme Court. On Friday, the judges ruled that the ban is legal and will take effect on Sunday if ByteDance has not sold its US subsidiary by then.
In response to the ruling, the White House said the implementation of any ban would be handled by the incoming Trump administration due to time constraints.
Trump, who supported a ban on TikTok during his first term, has recently reversed his position. He is now expected to use a provision in the law that allows a president to issue a one-time 90-day extension of the ban.
Meanwhile, several American companies and investor groups have expressed interest in acquiring the platform.
According to Bloomberg News, one option is to sell parts of TikTok to Elon Musk's social media company X. The acquisition would potentially give the multi-billionaire control over an even larger platform than X, and expand his ability to promote both his personal interests and those of the incoming Trump administration.
Global implications
If no acquisition occurs and TikTok is banned, it would reflect a broader global trend of government restrictions on the platform.
India implemented a ban in 2020, citing national security concerns. Since then, countries including Jordan, Kyrgyzstan and Nepal have followed suit, citing reasons ranging from concerns about users' mental health to accusations that the platform promotes social unrest. Most recently, Albania announced a one-year block on the platform in late December.
A US ban could further fuel this trend, says Internet Society's Natalie Campbell, potentially leading to an increasingly fractured Internet — with repercussions far beyond US borders.
"Because of the influence that the United States has, we would likely see more and more countries trying to address their concerns (about social media platforms) through bans," she said.
Banning platforms vs. regulating them
Campbell argued that banning an app does not address the underlying problem, but rather causes users to migrate to other services where privacy and security concerns remain.
As a contingency plan, many US TikTok users have recently expanded their presence on competing US platforms such as Instagram or YouTube, or other Chinese applications such as the lifestyle app RedNote.
Campbell argues that instead of targeting a single platform with a ban, the US government should focus on passing comprehensive privacy legislation that would protect users across all platforms: "This would allow us to hold all services and apps to the same standards, rather than playing this dangerous game of whack-a-mole."
Edited by Ben Knight
While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.